


Another Crack at It

by chocomint8



Category: This Is Us (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23321224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocomint8/pseuds/chocomint8
Summary: He wished he could freeze this moment forever. After all this time, she’d come back to him. His girl had come back to him. But he knew that had to tell her about Madison and the babies.God, he didn’t want to. Her eyes were so full of hope and he knew this could bring her world crashing down around her. What if she changed her mind about him? About them? What if always didn’t mean forever?
Relationships: Kevin Pearson/Sophie
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something I decided to write after the finale. What if Sophie decided to come back to Kevin after Madison told him she was pregnant?

Kevin Pearson tried to focus on the script he was reading, but his mind was spinning. It had been a week since the day that changed everything. The last day he spoke to his brother, the day he found out his mom was going to do the trial after all, and the day that he found out that Madison was pregnant. 

The past week had been a complete whirlwind – trying to figure out how everything was going to work between them. How they could co-parent as friends, when they weren’t even really friends to begin with? They’d told his family a few days later. Kate had been surprisingly supportive and Toby had had a complete field day cracking jokes. His mom had cried. He’d filled his calendar with the dates of Madison’s doctor’s appointments and ordered just about every book about pregnancy and babies that Amazon had to offer. He was trying to make the best of a really weird situation, but it was hard. There wasn’t exactly a manual for having twins with your one-night stand, who also happened to be your sister’s best friend. But he was determined to do the right thing by his babies – he was determined to make his father proud, even if he couldn’t be there to see it.

Kevin was pulled from his thoughts by a knock at his door. Did he forget someone was coming over? With the way the last week had gone, he wouldn’t be surprised if he had. Kevin pulled his front door open and he froze.

“Sophie?” He asked breathlessly. 

“I.. I broke up with Grant. After the funeral, I realized that no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I was still in love with you. My mom and I had such a complicated relationship, but if there’s one thing she taught me, it’s to never settle. It wouldn’t have been fair to anybody – to Grant, to me, to you. And even though I wanted to hop on a plane to LA and come after you the second you drove away, I made myself wait a few weeks. I think I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just the grief, but I knew from the moment that I saw you in that church, that you were it for me, even after all this time.”

Kevin felt like he was in a dream. Sophie was here, at his doorstep, telling him that she still loved him. There was no way this could be real, but it was. He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued.

“I don’t remember what I wore on the first day of fourth grade, but I remember how I felt. I was so scared. I was alone in a new school, in a new town, and my parents were fighting all the time. But then I walked into that classroom and there was this boy with these big brown eyes and he made me laugh. And all of a sudden, I wasn’t scared anymore. I have loved you ever since that moment, even when I’ve wanted to kill you.” Sophie laughed before continuing.

“And that day on the subway, you told me that you changed. But then things went wrong and I tried to pack you away in this box, because not matter how much I loved you, I was so scared of getting hurt again. But when you came to my mom’s funeral, when you were there for me, despite how hard It was for you, you showed me how you’ve changed. When I found you there and I locked in on you, I couldn't ignore it any more - not matter how hard I tried. And believe me, I tried, I really tried to be happy with remembering the past, but it isn’t enough for me. I want a future with you. I love you, Kev. I always have and I always will.”

Before Kevin could respond, Sophie stepped forward and kissed him. He pulled her towards him and deepened the kiss. After nearly two years, it could’ve felt awkward or foreign, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world. It felt like coming home. 

He wished he could freeze this moment forever. After all this time, she’d come back to him. His girl had come back to him. But he knew that had to tell her about Madison and the babies.

God, he didn’t want to. Her eyes were so full of hope and he knew this could bring her world crashing down around her. What if she changed her mind about him? About them? What if always didn’t mean forever? 

“Soph, there’s something I need to tell you. You should probably sit down.” He said softly. He gently took Sophie’s hand and led her towards the couch. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked, her voice breaking slightly. Just hearing those words, the same words she’d said on one of the worst days of his life, the day that he’d hurt her so much, sent a dagger straight through his heart.

“After the funeral, I felt so lost. I got to spend a day with you, but I knew that you were with somebody else. That I’d messed things up between us a couple time and, even though I was finally ready, it was too late. I felt so guilty because I knew it was one of the worst days of your life, but I didn’t want it to end. Leaving you behind was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. And when I got back, I just wanted to see Jack and Kate and I take my mind off of everything. I thought that it was too late. When I got to Kate’s, she wasn’t there, but her best friend, Madison was. We talked for a little while and we went back to her place and we slept together. But Sophie, I swear it didn’t mean anything.” 

“That’s it?” Sophie laughed. “You slept with someone else? Kev, I wasn’t exactly single at the time either.”

Kevin shook his head. He felt like he was about to pass out, but he continued. “She told me last week that she’s pregnant. With twins. My twins. My kids, Soph. Madison and I aren’t together or anything, I hardly even know her, so we’re just trying to figure it out. I want to be with you Sophie, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life, and I want to make this work. But if this is too much for you, I understand.”

Kevin looked over at Sophie - all of the color had completely drained from her face. She shakily stood from the couch,“I just… I need a minute, okay?” Kevin watched silently as she walked through his front door, gone just as quickly as she’d came. He watched as she paced in his lawn, chewing her nails, and talking to herself. He would’ve laughed if he wasn’t so damn scared.

As he watched Sophie, the conversation they'd had in New York when he'd made amends replayed in his head. "You know you're the only man I've ever truly loved. You're also the only man who's ever been able to hurt me the way that you do." He'd never meant to her, but he had - over and over. And here he was again, hurting her. He was excited to be a father, but in that moment, as much as he hated himself for it, he wished that he could take it all back. He wished he could go back to that day and do things differently - so that he wouldn't have to hurt her again. Hell, he wished he could go back to one of the worst days of his life. When he'd knocked on her door, scared and high out of his mind. In some messed up way, he was trying to save her from being unhappy with him, but in the process he destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to him. 

Maybe Randall was right - maybe he didn't know how to devote himself to someone else. Maybe, despite how hard he tried, he'd never be good enough. Because even when he didn't try to hurt Sophie, he still managed to do it. 

A week ago, he'd given up on having a great love story - he'd decided he was done chasing ghosts, but deep down he knew it would never be true. Sophie wasn't a ghost, she was a part of him. Always, no matter what. And he knew, that deep down, he'd never stop loving her, even though he knew it was too late, even though he knew that he'd messed things up with her. Because despite everything they'd been through, he couldn't stop thinking about her, ever. But then she knocked on his door and everything changed. 

After what seemed like the longest fifteen minutes of his life, Sophie walked towards the door, a look of steely resolve on her face.

“The last time that things got hard, I walked away. I know that you were the one who broke up with me, but you were struggling and I didn’t see it. You were crying out for help and I slammed the door in your face. I should’ve fought for you, for us. But I got scared. I can’t lose you again. I know that this is going to be hard and messy and awkward, but I don’t care. I want to make this work.” 

“Really?” Kevin asked her in disbelief. 

“Really. And I know that this isn’t going to be easy. I know that it's going to be challenging and complicated that we'll have to so much to figure it out. But, Kev, you're doing the right thing for your kids. You're going to be a dad to your children - how could I ever be mad at you for that? For stepping up? For being responsible? For being the man that I always know you could be? This isn’t what I pictured our family looking like, but I’m ready. I love you and even though these babies aren’t mine, I already love them because they're yours. And I think I’d make a pretty bad ass stepmom.” 

“The baddest,” Kevin laughed, pulling Sophie close and pressing a kiss to her head. 

“Besides,” Sophie smiled, breathing in sharply, “with twins on the way, you might need your arm back.”


	2. Out of the Bubble

Kevin yawned as he finished getting dressed. He and Sophie had spent nearly all night talking about everything – his sobriety, the situation with Madison, his mom’s Alzheimer’s, his fight with Randall, and just about everything in between. 

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Sophie smiled at him as he walked into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and her laptop.

“It’s 9:30,” Kevin said defensively, pouring himself a cup before joining her. “What are you working on?”

“Applying to some hospitals in LA. Only one is looking for a nurse manager right now so I’ll see, but I figure if I can just get my foot in the door somewhere else, something will come up eventually. I put in my notice so that’ll give me two weeks to get everything in order and packed. I have a few days before I have to head back for my next shift.”

Kevin nodded. They’d agreed pretty quickly last night that neither of them wanted to do long distance again and since Kevin’s kids were going to be living in Los Angeles, Sophie decided to relocate. It was strange, Kevin thought, the first time they tried again, they’d been cautious and taken things slow. This time, they’d both jumped in feet first. After everything they’d been through, things between them had gotten serious pretty much immediately this time around.

“So how do we want to do this? Who do we tell first?” Kevin asked Sophie. As much as they both loved being in their bubble, just the two of them, they knew that it couldn’t last forever and that they needed to be transparent about their relationship with Kevin’s family, especially with everything else going on. 

“Madison. We need to make sure she knows that even though you and I are back together, you’ll be there for her every step of the way. We will. I’m sure she’s already freaked out enough about everything – we don’t need to make it any worse. Then your mom and Kate and R-.” Sophie stopped herself. She knew that he wasn’t ready to talk to Randall about this. “And Toby and your good friend Miggy.” She laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Kevin playfully rolled his eyes before continuing.

“What the hell am I even supposed to say? Thanks for bearing my children. By the way, I got back together with the love of my life, hope that’s cool.” He asked.

“Definitely not that,” Sophie said with a laugh. “Kev, you showed up on my doorstep three years ago and said the most beautiful things to me. And somehow you knew just the right thing to say that day in the car. I know you can come up with something.”

“My dad would know what to say, not that he would’ve ever gotten himself into something like this,” Kevin sighed, tapping his fingers on the table. 

“Kev…” Sophie said softly, placing a reassuring hand on his arm

“He wouldn’t have, Soph. Hell, even your mom knew I was a screw-up. No wonder she wouldn’t give me that ring.” 

“Kev, she loved you. You know that…” Sophie said before her eyes widened in realization. “This might not be the right time, but there’s something that I meant to give you yesterday. I’ll be right back!” Sophie darted off towards his bedroom.

“Soph?” Kevin called curiously. “Hold on!” She responded. She seemed to be rummaging through her suitcase for something.

“I meant to give you this yesterday, but then things got complicated and it completely slipped my mind. But when you mentioned your dad, I remembered.” Sophie said as she walked back towards him.

“I found this the day after the funeral with some of my mom’s things. After I’d made up my mind about you, I went back to Pittsburgh to visit my mom’s grave. Anyway, we talked, and we both agreed that you earned this,” Sophie smiled, handing him a brown velvet box. Kevin opened it to reveal an emerald ring. 

“Is this..?” He asked, looking up at her.

Sophie nodded. “My grandmother’s ring.”

“Are you asking me to marry you?” Kevin asked her with a raised eyebrow. 

“I was going to, I figured it was my turn this time,” Sophie laughed “but then with everything going on, it completely slipped my mind until you mentioned your dad. I understand if you want to wait until things calm down a little bit. So, I am asking you to ask me, when you’re ready.”

Kevin shook his head with a laugh, “Soph, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more ready for anything in my entire life. But you’re right, but not because of everything else going on. Because when I ask you to marry me, I want it to be special. I want to show you just how much I love you, in a way I never could with words. You deserve my best magic.” He smiled at her before slipping the ring into his back pocket.

Sophie smiled, wrapping her arms around her arms around his waist. “Always have to go big, don’t you, Pearson?” Kevin felt his heart flutter. The same thing Sophie had said to him years ago after he came to her door in New York. All of this felt so surreal to him, yet it also felt like the most real thing in world.

“For you, Sophie, always.” He responded with a grin, kissing her. “But I do have one more question. Ready?” 

“Ready,” Sophie responded with a smile.

“When I ask you to marry me, what are you gonna say?” Kevin asked her playfully.

Sophie laughed, rolling her eyes at him, before cupping his face in her hands, “I’m gonna say yes, Kev.”  
……………..

“Hey!” Kevin said, opening his door that afternoon after going to a meeting. He’d invited Madison over to talk so that he could tell her about him and Sophie. Sophie had gone to the grocery store, unimpressed with the lack of anything other than takeout in Kevin’s fridge. “Thank you for coming! How are you feeling? Are you good? Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine, Kevin. What did you want to talk about?” Madison asked, sitting down at his kitchen table. 

“First off, I just want to you know, this doesn’t change anything. I am still all in for these babies – I want to be the best father to them I can be no matter what, but something’s changed. Do you remember Sophie?”

Madison nodded. “Your ex-girlfriend, right? The one you’re still in love with? Seeing as that’s still one of the only things I know about you, yeah, I remember.” Madison laughed.

“Right,” Kevin paused, “Well, she isn’t my ex anymore.” He paused, half expecting Madison to get mad at him, but she simply nodded, waiting for him to continue. “She came to see me, to tell me that she still loves me, and we ended up getting back together. Well, more than just back together. We’re kind of engaged, well engaged to be engaged.”

“Does she know about…?” Madison asked, gesturing towards her stomach.

Kevin nodded before continuing, “She does. I know that it’s going to take a lot of work and things might get messy and complicated but we’re both ready for that. The timing completely sucks, but I just couldn’t lose her again. I know we agreed to co-parent as friends, but I don’t want me being in a relationship to make any of this more painful or complicated for you. Sophie makes me better; she has since we were kids. And I think being with her can help me become a better father too. My children will be the loves of my life, but so will she.”

To Kevin’s surprise, Madison laughed. “Kevin, I never said that you had to stay single. I told you that you could walk away, but you didn’t. You chose to step up for our children and I will be forever grateful for that. We were both so broken that day and something beautiful came from it – these babies. You chose to go all in for them, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of your life has to stop. I’m sure it’ll be awkward at first, but I’m happy for you, really. You found your great love. I just hope that I can do too one day.”

Kevin sat back, feeling an immense sense of relief. How had this conversation gone so much better than he ever expected? Maybe he really had underestimated Madison. “If I can, I know you will.” Kevin told her with a small smile, gently taking Madison’s hand and squeezing in reassuringly. Madison smiled at him, but her smile wasn’t sad like he expected, it was full of hope.

“So when do I get to meet Sophie?” Madison asked him. 

“You wanna meet her? Good, that’s great! I really think you’ll love her! She has to head back to New York in a couple days for a few weeks, just to get everything taken care of, but maybe we could all get dinner together tomorrow? You’ll probably end up liking her better than you like me.” Kevin laughed, “Kate’s always liked her better than me anyways.”

“Why don’t you tell me all about her?” Madison asked. “Start at the beginning.”

Kevin smiled as he began telling her all about Sophie. This could work, this could really work.   
…………………………..

That night, Kevin went over to Kate’s house to talk to her and his mom. Toby had gone out a drink with one of his friends. After talking to Madison, he’d decided to go back to New York with Sophie to help her get everything figured out as she prepared to move. They decided that Kevin needed to go ahead and tell his family before they left for New York, especially now that he’d told Madison and he knew she wasn’t good at keeping secrets from Kate.

When Kevin finished explaining everything that had happened over the last few days, he looked up to see his mom and Kate staring back at him, shocked.

“This is absolutely insane. You know that, right?” Kate asked him. 

“Bug,” Rebecca said softly, placing a hand gently on Kate’s arm.

“I know it is, believe me, but this is Sophie. I already lost her twice because I was an idiot, but when I was finally in a good place and ready, I thought I’d lost her forever. But then she came back to me – I couldn’t lose her again. Life is too short. I’ve spent so much of this year chasing a great love story like you and Dad had, but the truth is, I had it all along. None of this is remotely close to any of the endings I pictured for me and Sophie, but I have a feeling that this may end up being better than I could’ve possibly imagined. Maybe that’s what so amazing about all this – it’s not an ending at all, but a new beginning. I’m going to be a dad and I get to spend the rest of my life with my favorite person in the world.” Kevin responded.

“Madison’s really okay with this?” Kate asked softly. She wanted to be happy for Kevin, but she also felt an obligation to protect her best friend.

Kevin nodded. “I already talked to Madison. She’s okay with it. The three of us are going to dinner tomorrow night so she can meet Sophie.”

Kate smiled at him and pulled him into a hug. As if on cue, Jack began to cry, “I’m gonna go check on Jack and then I want to hear ALL about this.” Kate told Kevin.

Kevin looked over at Rebecca who had been sitting pretty quietly since he told them.

“Mom?” He asked softly.

“Your father knew,” Rebecca said with a small smile. “You and Sophie, your father always knew. When you were kids, I always thought it was just puppy love, but he’d look at me and he’d say: ‘just you wait, Bec, this is more than that’. From the time you were ten years old and you told us you loved her for the first time. To the night after you hurt your leg and I found the two of you asleep on the couch together at 2 o’clock in the morning. I wanted to wake you up and make Sophie go home. But your dad convinced me to go back to bed because somehow he knew that, in that moment, when you were so broken and so hurt, she was what you needed most in the world. He would be so proud of the man you’ve become.” Rebecca paused, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. “I just wish he was here to see it.”

“I’m just glad that you are,” Kevin smiled, squeezing Rebecca’s hand with a reassuring smile.


End file.
